I feel like the descriptors of this particular week from the two articles mentioned above make this definitely sound like a intimate relationship type of prompt. But seeing as I’ve been with the same guy for the past 13 years – it doesn’t particularly apply to me in that way.

But if I swap out the word friendships for relationships? Totally.

Over the years I’ve had a number of friendships – high school friends, college, co-workers, friends of friends – and I cherish the time I’ve spent with all those people. Even if some of them did end abruptly or in heartache or in anger because they’ve all taught me that it’s better to be alone than to be in bad company. Whether that company has made me feel like less of a person or caused issues in my marriage, it’s something to learn from. So as I’ve gotten older I’ve become more exclusive to who I let into my personal inner circle.

Some days Alfred and I will look around and think, we should be more open, and so we try. But we don’t want friends for the sake of having friends, we want people we can depend on, who we can trust, and who are kind. People’s actions really do speak louder than words. Alfred has always been a really good judge of character and can usually tell right away what type of person we are bringing into our life. Me, on the other hand, really truly wants to believe the best in people. I tend to give second chances (or third… or fourth) and it takes a lot for me to just pull away from a person.

I think it should also be said that it’s really hard to finding married couples where we like both spouses (and trust them). It’s not that we don’t enjoy the company of single friends, it’s just that priorities are a little different when you’re in a committed relationship. Sometimes that doesn’t always come across in those friendships or it gets thrown to the wayside causing friction in your relationship. Trusting your instinct and gut reaction to people has shown (to me anyway) to be a good indicator of how things will turn out. Fortunately for me, my gut reaction to one guy in particular proved a number of people wrong and we couldn’t be happier.

Have you ever suffered from a relationshit?Are you picky when it comes to making friends?

1 comment:

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt too, but I've had some I needed to let go. It's sad, but ultimate for the better. I wouldn't say I'm too picky, though. I've been told that I get along pretty well with lots of people, and I have a fairly wide group of friends. Being older makes it harder to find kindred spirits, though.